Hours after she was sworn in at the White House, Bondi called for the creation of “weaponization working group” that will scrutinize the work of special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump in two criminal cases. The group will also review "unethical prosecutions" stemming from the Jan. 6 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, among other things, according to the memo.
Among other directives Bondi signed were orders to lift the moratorium on the federal death penalty and end federal grants administered by the Justice Department for jurisdictions that “unlawfully interfere with federal law enforcement.”
Bondi herself had foreshadowed the “weaponization” working group’s creation by asserting at her confirmation hearing last month that the Justice Department had “targeted Donald Trump.” The Justice Department will provide quarterly reports to the White House on the progress of the review, which will look for instances where agencies' actions “appear to have been designed to achieve political objectives or other improper aims rather than pursuing justice,” according to the memo.
In another memo, Bondi wrote that prosecutors could face firings if they refuse to sign onto briefs or appear in court to argue on behalf of the administration, saying it's the department lawyers' job to “vigorously defend presidential policies and actions against legal challenges.”
Bondi was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas earlier Wednesday alongside Trump in the Oval Office.
Trump praised Bondi's record as a prosecutor and said she will restore “fair, equal and impartial justice" at the department.
Bondi told the president that she would not let him down.
“I will make you proud and I will make this country proud,” she told him. “I will restore integrity to the Justice Department and I will fight violent crime throughout this country and throughout this world, and make America safe again."
Bondi enters with the department roiled by the firings of career prosecutors and senior FBI officials, along with the scrutiny of thousands of agents involved in the sprawling Jan. 6 investigation.
FBI agents this week sued after the Justice Department demanded that the bureau turn over the names of all agents involved in the Jan. 6 probe, which agents believe may be a precursor to mass firings.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a memo to the workfforce Wednesday that FBI agents “who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner” are not at risk of being fired. The only employees who should be concerned, Bove wrote, “are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent."
